New group “Mothers For Choice” formed to support abortion on demand

A new group has launched in the last week to support a pro-choice position on abortion – and their point of difference in this debate is that they’re all mothers.

Mothers For Choice define a pro-choice position on abortion as respecting the right of individual women to choose for themselves whether or not to continue a pregnancy, without the need to seek permission from anyone else for a termination.

"We believe that most New Zealanders would support a law change that gives the woman concerned the right to decide, as only she truly knows her own circumstances and what is the right choice for her" said spokesperson Julie Fairey.

The group are making it a priority to update our abortion laws, said spokesperson Rebecca Matthews. “We believe any improvement to the current mess of our abortion laws would be a good start. The current legislation is over 30 years old, and does not give women the right to choose, as it allows abortion only on certain grounds and only with the permission of two certifying consultants.”

Mothers For Choice supports the key elements of a bill Labour MP Steve Chadwick has been considering putting in the ballot for Private Member’s Bill, in particular:
* abortion available on demand (i.e. woman concerned decides) to 24 weeks
* abortion with medial practitioner’s support after 24 weeks when appropriate
* decriminalize abortion (remove from Crimes Act)
* health practitioners who have conscientious objection to abortion must inform women they can access abortion from elsewhere

Mothers For Choice includes amongst our number mothers who have one child, several children; are single, married, in a civil union, in a defacto relationship, widowed, separated; have had fertility problems, have suffered miscarriages, have had unplanned pregnancies, have had abortions; are step-mothers; are religious, are atheists, are agnostic; and hail from a variety of different cultures and backgrounds.

Mothers For Choice has a website with further details www.mothersforchoice.org.nz. We also have a Facebook Page (keywords: mothers for choice) which at the time of writing has over 100 supporters and a twitter feed "mothers4choice".

ENDS

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